Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Class Warfare - A Mainstay Of The Obama Administration

Class Warfare is already gearing up.

Obama and Congress are drunk with power and they really do not understand what the economic reality is for the everyday person. Yeah sure, they drag out people with sob stories about what tough times they are experiencing. To what end? We are all struggling in one way shape or form.

But honestly, it seems like it is all about victimhood, and less about solving the problems that people are having. It's all about how nothing else but government can "help" instead of about how people can help themselves.

The Obama administration is trying to stoke the fires of entitlement, and in the process they are creating a very angry citizenry that will be steeped in class warfare. Make no mistake, it has begun.

The poor, who already get government assistance, want and even have come to expect more - and it doesn't even matter if they are citizens of our country! The middle class are being bled - some working 2 and 3 jobs to pay their taxes and put food on the table and in addition support all those people who have come to rely on government handouts (i.e. tax money from the public purse). The middle class, and anyone else who has some savings tucked away, are seeing their savings evaporating, especially if their 401-K's and other plans are tied to the stock market. The rest of anything that is left will have less buying power as we see inflation rise. Meanwhile the rich are being scorned for their excesses.

Of course, when people talk about "the wealthy" - who are they talking about? Those who make over $100,000? That is easily accomplished by a middle class two income family, or the average small business person. What about $250,000? $500,000? over a million? Who exactly are these wealthy people that every politician these days seems to scorn? How much is too much to make? Why shouldn't the sky be the limit when it comes to income? Why shouldn't people fly jets if they can afford to?

Have wealthy CEO's made their money by exploitation of others? Probably, but we are also responsible to ourselves for not allowing ourselves to BE exploited in the first place! Perhaps that should have been the lesson of the easy credit given to people who really could not take on home loans. The government was not "doing them a favor" by helping them get into houses they could not afford. Then the government turns around and blames those nasty rich bankers for giving out easy credit sub-prime mortgages! Imagine that! The bankers are then the evil ones, and not the government that created the regulations that prompted the bankers to make bad loans in the first place!

And what about consumption as being an act of patriotism? After 9/11 we were told to go back into the malls and buy stuff. We are expected to max out our credit cards to buy the HD TVs that we don't really need - and yet we are also reprimanded for having atrocious credit scores as a result. Go figure.

People have already cast the blame on the wealthy in this country because of their success - without understanding that it is the wealthy that have provided jobs and business opportunities for so many. Even as Congressional Representatives in their recent hearings ripped apart the CEO's that own Cessnas, their shortsightedness is apparent as they do not understand that even the Cessna makers create jobs and also fuel the economy. There are a lot of jobs in the private aviation sector. Stop buying Cessnas and Yachts and many people will be out of work. Not only that, but the huge taxes paid on those items will go uncollected if no one owns them - as do the airport and marina rental fees and other expenses. You have to understand something: Poor people do not spend money.Poor people do not pay taxes. You have to also understand that there is no real incentive to get off the public dole if the government does everything for you.

It is easy enough to exploit jealousy and despair. It is easy enough for some to demand that wealthy people give what they have earned to those who, for whatever reason, have not fared so well in life. But imagine what our world would be like if the wealthy did not give to charities, as they do, or if they did not engage in the risks of business, as they do, or if they did not make the extravagant purchases which in turn fuel businesses and service industries. What if the wealthy went on strike? (ala an Ayn Rand novel). Some of them are already going out of business and the layoffs of those companies are beginning.

On the flip side, and unfortunately, what is also happening is that poorly managed businesses are being compensated by government to stay in business and to continue to make poor business decisions. That is government bailout and corporate welfare in action; a classic demonstration of government interference in the market.

What's worse is the hypocrisy coming out of Washington, as Congress excoriates CEOs, when in fact many Congressmen are millionaires in their own right! The Obama cabinet is stacked with millionaires. Apparently it is o.k. for members of Congress to drive limousines and have multiple homes and fly private aircraft. It apparently O.K. for Congressmen to get sweetheart mortgage deals and do what they can to "game the system". How they can sit there in the luxurious chambers of our government and chastise those whose companies have spent money foolishly is completely ironic. As if the clowns in Washington DC don't also spend money foolishly!

Mr. Obama/Soetero wants to "spread the wealth around" as long as it isn't his wealth we are talking about. He wants YOU to pony up. He also wants you to give your spare house to the woman and her son who are out of work. Meanwhile his own illegal alien aunt lives on public assistance and other members of his family live in poverty. But no matter - they can live off government welfare programs paid for by you and me.

I really don't expect the government or anyone else to solve my problems and take care of me.As long as I have the opportunity and freedom to make changes in my life, or to take advantage of opportunities that come my way, then that is what matters most. I accept responsibility for myself. That is a lesson we should all take on. And while life deals us all a different hand - for whatever reason this universe deems so - we would do well to heed the commandment:

You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

We forget that everyone in this society is important from the CEO to the waitress at the diner. Everyone serves an important function and not everyone can be a CEO. Every job in our society is important from the artisan chair maker to the plumber to the school janitor to the Wall Street account executive. Compensation is relative to education, training, and job demand. We also forget that some jobs were not meant to provide an income to support an entire family.

Don't blame million dollar athletes for making tons of money because we value their entertainment more than that of cancer researchers or school teachers. And we shouldn't expect the wealthy (whatever wealthy means) to give up a majority of their income to provide for everyone else, unless they wish to do so.

The most important thing to remember is that in the end, there is no difference between the poor man and the rich man in the cemetery.

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